Description: Within a remote eighteenth century Cornish
village, an evil presence lurks within the darkness of the
witching hour, a mysterious plague relentlessly taking lives
at an unstoppable rate. Unable to find the cause, Dr Peter
Thompson enlists the help of Professor James Forbes.
Desperate to find an antidote what they find instead are
empty coffins with the diseased corpses missing. Following a
series of strange and frightening clues, Thompson and Forbes
are lead to a deserted mine where they discover a world of
black magic and a doomed legion of flesh eating slaves, the
walking dead.

The Film:

A wonderfully atmospheric outing from Hammer Films, who diverged from
their often successful variations on Universal's classic monsters into
the world of zombies, a genre which had yet to receive its infusion of
terrifying new blood with the 1968 classic
Night of the Living Dead. The plot, which owes a debt to the
Bela Lugosi chiller
White Zombie, involves a mad Cornish squire, who solves an
annoying labor crisis in his tin mines by turning local villagers into
voodoo-controlled zombies. Dr. Thompson (Brook Williams) and his
daughter Alice (Jacqueline Pearce) soon discover the unpleasant
nocturnal habits of the shambling undead slaves -- including their
tendency to go on murderous rampages when not directly under the
squire's control. At the request of Alice, Sir James Forbes (André
Morell) arrives on the scene to investigate. The superb script by Peter
Bryan employs an interesting subtext about the rift between the British
aristocracy and the exploited working class, but the film is less a
political allegory than a spooky, atmospheric horror opus that ranks
among Hammer Films' finest.

Perhaps a little tame these days, compared with modern gore-shock, but
Gilling's Hammer chiller about zombies being exploited by a Cornish
tin-mine owner (echoes of the classic White Zombie) is highly
atmospheric. Often imaginatively directed (in particular a splendid,
nightmarishly green-tinted vision of the undead rising from the
graveyard earth), it boasts really classy photography (Arthur Grant) and
an outstanding performance from Jacqueline Pearce (the admirable
snake-woman from
The Reptile, here being beheaded to save her from untimely
zombification).

Image : NOTE:The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.

Like most of the other Hammer
UK
Blu-rays, The
Plague of the Zombiesgets a pleasing transfer
from Studio Canal. It is dual-layered
with a high bitrate for the 1.5 hour feature. It has some
color
inconsistency - leaning to a yellow/greenish bias at times.
Not misaligned but can give that impression. Generally
speaking, the visuals are solid with a few exceptional scenes showing
impressive clarity
and depth. Primary colors can appear rich and there is no noise in the darker
sequences.
The 1080P supports acceptable contrast adding some minor depth in the 1.66:1 frame.
I don't see heavy signs of manipulation but suggest it is merely the
less-stable source.
It's quite clean showcasing a responsive, if not dynamic
presentation. This
Blu-ray
provides a substantially improved video viewing over SD.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Raising the Dead is a 34-minute featurette and has John Carson
and Jacqueline Pearce from the film discussing their memories of The
Plague of the Zombies, with English film critic Jonathan Rigby, author
of
English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema and Studies in
Terror: Landmarks of Horror Cinema, focusing on the historical relevance
of the film in Hammer's vast stable of horrors. We get another World of
Hammer Episode with Roy Skeggs - this one entitled Mummies. Werewolves
and the Living Dead and runs just shy of 25-minutes. There is also a
brief Restoration Comparison, with split screen demonstrations, a trailer and the dual-format package
includes a DVD.

BOTTOM LINE: The Plague of the Zombies was filmed back-to-back with
The Reptile, and has similar looking sets, fans will note the village on the
back lot at Bray Studios is the exact same. The lovely
Jacqueline Pearce co-starring in both - her only two Hammer
Horrors. This has a slow build but is rich with the
studios appealing atmosphere. The
Studio Canal
Blu-ray provides a decent a/v presentation and includes relevant
supplements. I'd certainly say this was above average in
terms of placement with similar of the genre. There is a lot
to enjoy here. Recommended!

Gary Tooze

March 15th, 2014

About the Reviewer:
Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film
since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was
around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my
horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out
new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500
DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my
discussion Listserv for furthering my film
education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver.
Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our
Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.